The PZ Insider Report- Israel - America & Isaiah Monday, Feb 20th 2012

Transcription

1 The PZ Insider Report- Israel - America & Isaiah Monday, Feb 20th 2012 Over the past week or so I have been reading Isaiah. To be honest I am blown away at the similarities mentioned about Israel and then looking at modern day America. I am not promoting some replacement theology idea or anything like that; but I do believe that when people or nations turn their backs on God, the laws of nature, God's Law, comes into play. I am one who firmly believes that our nation was brought about by divine providence. King James, the very same king who put his name to the only Authorized version of the bible, also sent people to "the new world" to spread the Gospel and claim the land for God in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the basic tenants of the James Town Charter claiming America for His Glory. We are not God's chosen people and in no way replace Israel, but I believe we have a special place in God's plan and because we have remained a Christian nation up until about 40 years ago, God has blessed us immensely. Our nation has done more to further the gospel, protect the innocent, stood for what was right, and against what was wrong than any other nation. We have defended the weak, opposed tyranny and tyrants. Page 1

2 On July 4th 1776 we declared our freedom beginning with these words When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. At the base of the Statue of Liberty it states, "Give me your tired, your poor/your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" We are a nation built upon the principals of God and His Word. But somewhere on this journey, our great republic strayed and instead of being good, we have chosen the path of evil. I look around at what is taking place here in the US as well as globally and I see man working towards his own demise through the pleasures of the world and of the flesh. Instead of exporting the Gospel, we export pornography. Instead of saving the innocent, we kill millions of our children through abortion. Instead of standing for God, we work to eradicate His existence from our lives, our monuments and our schools. Instead of the holy matrimony between husband and wife we have sodomites, pedophiles, hedonism, practitioners of bestiality and necrophilia, all becoming the norm. Instead of caring for our fellow man, greed and selfishness are what has taken its place. The natural affection of man is gone, brutality is its replacement. Many people ask is America in Bible Prophecy? I do not see her directly there, but recently I have been studying Isaiah 5 again and as I mentioned I have noticed some very interesting correlations in God judging Judah and where we are in America today. Israel - America & Isaiah By Ray Gano Where is Magog, Mecheck & Tubal? By Joel Richardson Page 2

3 Kind Soothing Words versus Truth By Barbara Henderson Lost Eras, New Realities By Wilfred J. Hahn The Difficult Part of Prayer By Fred DeRuvo Is the World on the Prophetic Brink? By Bill Wilson THIS IS STARTING TODAY Keeping PZ Folks In The Loop Two Great Food Packs Go On Sale Feb 20th I know that some of you may not care about this, but when I hear of very good sales coming up and I think that it might really benefit you, I feel compelled to share. NOTE - If this is not your cup of tea, please just delete the ) With that said, we have two package from Shelf Reliance going on sale on February 20th that you may want to purchase. First is Cheese 6 Pack You get... 2 Cheddar Cheese (FD) Page 3

4 2 Monterey Jack Cheese (FD) 1 Mozzarella Cheese (FD) 1 Colby Cheese (FD) These are sold in one gallon #10 cans so you are getting six, one gallon cans of cheese Sale Price for this pack is $ Second is our Freeze Dried Chicken and Beef 6 Pack. You Get... 3 Chopped Chicken (FD) 3 Ground Beef (FD) Like the #10 one gallon cans with the cheese, the same goes with the freeze dried meat. Yep, 6 #10 one gallon cans of freeze dried meat. Folks that is a lot of protein. Sale Price: These will be on sale between February 20th - March 18th Prices will be effective by 10:00am Mountain Time on February 20th and will be changed back by 10:00am Mountain time on March 18th. The only way you can order these is by giving me a call and letting me put it through my back office. You cannot order this on the Shelf Reliance website, nor from our website either. My Phone # is Please send me an letting me know when you plan to call so that I make sure I am home. If I do not answer, please leave a message and either we will run to the phone and pick it up, or call you back. These are some great prices for both of these packs. Tracye and I use the Freeze Dried chicken all the time. In fact one of our favorite recipes is Ray's Cool Jamaican Jerk Chicken. "Yea maan..it be me own recipe that I made up me self."* (* Must be said in your best Jamaican accent) Ray's Cool Jamaican Jerk Chicken This is a cooled down and kicked up version of Jamaican Jerk Chicken. If you do not like all the heat from the island scotch bonnet peppers, then this is the recipe for you. Page 4

5 Yields: 4 Servings Ingredients 1 tablespoon Whole Fresh Ground Allspice 1/2 teaspoon Organic Rosemary 1 1/2 teaspoon Ground Organic Thyme 1 teaspoon Organic Ground Cayenne pepper 2 tablespoon Whole Black Pepper Corns 1 1/2 teaspoon Ground Organic Sage 1 teaspoon Ground Organic Nutmeg 1 teaspoon Ground Organic Nutmeg 1 teaspoon Ground Organic Cinnamon 2 tablespoon Kosher Salt 2 tablespoon Garlic Powder 1 tablespoon Sugar 1/4 cup Olive oil 1/4 cup Soy sauce 3/4 cup Apple cider vinegar 1/2 cup Orange juice 1 Juice of a lime 2 Anaheim chili peppers roasted over fire 1 whole White onion chopped 4 Green onion finely chopped 4 Chicken quarters - leg & thighs Instructions Take your Anaheim chilies and roast them over your stove's burner. If you have a blow torch for in your garage, those work great. Put the chili on a fork and hold it into the flame till it is black. Turn the chili to get the entire surface charred. Once you are done with it, put it in a zip lock bag and set it aside. Roast the other chili and put it in the bag with the first one letting them sweat. If you do not have a coffee bean grinder, get one, it is the greatest kitchen gadget you will ever use. I grind a lot of my own spices in one of these. It will be the best $10. bucks you will spend for your kitchen. Put the whole allspice berries, thyme, rosemary, cayenne pepper, whole black pepper corns, sage, nutmeg and cinnamon into your coffee grinder and grind it to a rough powder. When you uncap the lid to the grinder, get ready to have your kitchen just filled with a wonderful aroma of spices. Tip - if you have an electric burner on your stove, sprinkle a little of this on your burner and it Page 5

6 acts as a spicy incense for the kitchen. Get a blender and put the ground up spices into the blender. Add your salt, sugar, garlic powder to the blender at this time. Add your olive oil, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, orange juice, lime juice to the blender. Get your roasted peppers and if you want them to remain spicy, just cut the tops off, chop them up and add them to the blender. If you don't want the seeds and veins, take those out by slicing open the peppers, wiping the seeds away and with a paring knife slice of the pepper veins. Chop the whole onion and add it to the blender. Finely chop the green onions and only add half of those to the blender. Cap the blender and blend away. You want to blend for about 45 seconds to minute tiil all of it is blended well. Once it is blended you should have a pretty thick marinade. Take your chicken and put them in a gallon sized zip lock freezer bag along with the rest of the chopped green onions and pour the marinade over the chicken. Let the marinade chicken sit at least an hour, longer the better but not to long, 6-8 hours max, The vinegar and citrus acids will "cook" the chicken and give the meat a rubbery consistency. Once done, cook the chicken over the BBQ, I like using mesquite and apple wood chips. Slow cook them keeping the middle meat moist and tender but allowing the outer marinade to charred "bark" just a bit. The flavor of the "bark" is incredible and really adds to the taste. Plate them up with some good mango salsa, add some rice and beans and "jah maan..this be some good jerk chicken maan. Thats what I be say'n...respect maan." =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks for your time with this and I pray that God continues to bless you and keep you. In His Service, Ray Gano Prophezine / Survival 4 Christian Page 6

7 Israel - America & Isaiah By Ray Gano Over the past week or so I have been reading Isaiah. To be honest I am blown away at the similarities mentioned about Israel and then looking at modern day America. I am not promoting some replacement theology idea or anything like that; but I do believe that when people or nations turn their backs on God, the laws of nature, God's Law, comes into play. I am one who firmly believes that our nation was brought about by divine providence. King James, the very same king who put his name to the only Authorized version of the bible, also sent people to "the new world" to spread the Gospel and claim the land for God in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the basic tenants of the James Town Charter claiming America for His Glory. We are not God's chosen people and in no way replace Israel, but I believe we have a special place in God's plan and because we have remained a Christian nation up until about 40 years ago, God has blessed us immensely. Our nation has done more to further the gospel, protect the innocent, stood for what was right, and against what was wrong than any other nation. We have defended the weak, opposed tyranny and tyrants. On July 4th 1776 we declared our freedom beginning with these words When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. At the base of the Statue of Liberty it states, "Give me your tired, your poor/your huddled masses yearning to breathe free" We are a nation built upon the principals of God and His Word. Page 7

8 But somewhere on this journey, our great republic strayed and instead of being good, we have chosen the path of evil. I look around at what is taking place here in the US as well as globally and I see man working towards his own demise through the pleasures of the world and of the flesh. Instead of exporting the Gospel, we export pornography. Instead of saving the innocent, we kill millions of our children through abortion. Instead of standing for God, we work to eradicate His existence from our lives, our monuments and our schools. Instead of the holy matrimony between husband and wife we have sodomites, pedophiles, hedonism, practitioners of bestiality and necrophilia, all becoming the norm. Instead of caring for our fellow man, greed and selfishness are what has taken its place. The natural affection of man is gone, brutality is its replacement. Many people ask is America in Bible Prophecy? I do not see her directly there, but recently I have been studying Isaiah 5 again and as I mentioned I have noticed some very interesting correlations in God judging Judah and where we are in America today. Please, take the time to read this. Isaiah 5:8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! Isaiah 5:9 In mine ears said the LORD of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. Isaiah 5:10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah. Isaiah 5:11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! Isaiah 5:12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the LORD, neither consider the operation of his hands. Page 8

9 Isaiah 5:13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Isaiah 5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. Isaiah 5:15 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: Isaiah 5:16 But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. Isaiah 5:17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. Isaiah 5:18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: Isaiah 5:19 That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it! Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Isaiah 5:22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Isaiah 5:23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! In this chapter God shows His people their sins as well as the judgment s to be brought up them for their sins. There Are Six Woes That God Proclaims 1. verses 8-10 This is the first crime, the covetousness and financial greed which shall be punished by famine. 2. verses This is the second crime, living for rioting, reveling and drunkenness which shall be punished by captivity. 3. verses This is the third crime, ultimately defying God and His justice. They parade their sins around for all to see and also defy God to hurry up and hasten his work of judgment. Page 9

10 4. verse 20 This is the fourth crime, calling evil good and good evil. We know the effects of this, it is prevalent today. 5. verse 21 - This is the fifth crime specified. It refers to those who are inflated with a false opinion of their own knowledge, and who are, therefore, self-confident and vain. 6. verses Again drunkenness but also due to their drunkenness they pervert justice rewarding the wicked and punishing the righteous. God has allowed us to prosper as shown in the parable of the vineyard found in Isaiah 5, and we have turned against Him and taken His blessings for granted. We no longer serve Him and we have become a pagan nation worshiping mammon and a multitude of false gods. Think about this for a moment. When we lived within God s economy, business was done on a handshake and a man s word was a man s word. Today we live in mammon s economy with all its clutter, confusion, trappings and ability to steal all with a stroke of a pen. Today we need contracts that are 20+ pages long and what the big print giveth the small print taketh away. Read what Isaiah says in Chapter 5, verse 8, this very issue is addressed. Isaiah 5:8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! Albert Barnes Notes on the Bible explain this verse the best. Isaiah 5:8 - Woe unto them... - The prophet now proceeds to specify some of the crimes to which he had referred in the parable of the vineyard, of which the Jews had been guilty. The first is avarice. That join house to house - That seek to possess many houses; or perhaps that seek to live in large and magnificent palaces. A similar denunciation of this sin is recorded in Mic_2:2; Neh_5:1-8. This, together with what follows, was contrary to the law of Moses. He provided that when the children of Israel should enter the land of Canaan, the land should be equitably divided; and in order to prevent avarice, he ordained the jubilee, occurring once in fifty years, by which every man and every family should be restored to their former possession; Lev. 25. Perhaps there could have been no law so well framed to prevent the existence, and avoid the evils of covetousness. Yet, in defiance of the obvious requirements and spirit of that law, the people in the time of Isaiah had become generally covetous. Page 10

11 That lay field to field - That purchase one farm after another. The words that lay, mean to cause to approach; that is, they join on one farm after another. Till there be no place - Until they reach the outer limit of the land; until they possess all. That they may be placed alone - That they may displace all others; that they may drive off from their lands all others, and take possession of them themselves. In the midst of the earth - Or rather, in the midst of the land. They seek to obtain the whole of it, and to expel all the present owners. Never was there a more correct description of avarice. It is satisfied with no present possessions, and would be satisfied only if all the earth were in its possession. Nor would the covetous man be satisfied then. He would sit down and weep that there was nothing more which he could desire. How different this from that contentment which is produced by religion, and the love of the happiness of others! Matthew Henry s Concise Commentary states basically the same thing too. Does this not describe corporate greed and the serving of mammon today? But that is not all. It seems that which gender one is having sex with is now more important in the halls of congress than the wholesomeness and protecting the family unit. We care more for this world and justify its shallow perspectives more than the things of God and His eternal perspective. Do you know that there is an epidemic of teachers accused or convicted of having sex with their students? Hundreds of them, mostly female too (1). Has this come to the forefront of national and international news in recent years? No. Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! I read many articles where so many of these child predators are just given a slap on the wrist. Where liberal judges reward the evils and yet lock up those who are righteous. A prime example of this is the 2 border guard agents who spent time in jail for doing their job and yet a drug smuggler is on the loose coming and going in and out of our country. Sins of the flesh are being taken to a new high. At a past Sundance Film Festival not only did we have a movie where the main highlight was the raping of a 12 year old girl, OH YEA but it was all in the name of ART. Page 11

12 But get this There was also a film called Zoo which primary focus was sex with animals. Leviticus 18:23 Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. But that is not all. More and more television shows are portraying homosexuality in a very positive light. Showtime was touting their hot show The L Word It is a show that glorifies and is about life as a lesbian (2). Romans 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: Leviticus 18:22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. But here in Isaiah 5:18 it talks about this very thing which the Lord deplores. Isaiah 5:18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope: Here in the US, we not only openly revel in our homosexual sin, but we parade our sins to God shoving it in His face. I am reminded of a literal example of this, the Gay Pride Parades with the floats and people all reveling. Here is an abomination to God and proudly it is displayed and celebrated. But, if you are in the world, of the world or even one toe in the world, much of this sounds fine to you, you are tolerant of these things and when the day is finally over, and one guesses it is all ok. But what no one is addressing, with all these things taking place, no one is talking about what to do if the Lord tarries. Luke 19:13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. Very few are occupying.... Do you see this too? When did we stop living for God and His economy and allowed ourselves to enter mammon s and flesh s debauchery? But you know what; the scary thing is how God corrects and judges these things. Page 12

13 In reading Isaiah and how God deals with a sinning nation, a nation that was dedicated to Him, His Glory and The Proclaiming of the Gospel, He has no choice but to judge the nation and chastise it in hopes that they will turn from their wicked ways and return to God. For a while people have been saying that God will judge our nation and believing judgment is coming. I am sorry, I do not believe this. Why? Because I believe Judgment is already here and has begun to take place. What have we done as a nation? The very same thing that Israel did, they stood in defiance against God, instead of humbling themselves and seeking forgiveness. God Warns First, Hoping For Repentance, IF NOT Then In Isaiah we see God do the same thing over and over again. He warns, then hopes for repentance, He warns, then hopes for repentance. Finally God has to act and what is the first thing He does in judgment? Isaiah 5:5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: He lifts His hand / hedge of protection. In doing this, it is His enemies that then come in and start to destroy. I believe that God has lifted His hand of protection. I believe that we have been given a chance and we have ignored it. Our hedge of protection has been breached and the enemies of God have come in. When did this take place? Think about it. Page 13

14 Never in our history have we been attacked, never has the enemy landed upon our soil, never has the enemy breached our walls. Why? Because we have always had His divine protection. But that changed and now our hedge of protection has been breached. When did that take place? September11th, On that date the hedge of protection around our nation was breached. This is why I say that judgment is not coming, it is already here. Learning From Isaiah Over and over again we see in Isaiah how God judges the nation. Isaiah 5:26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly: Isaiah 5:27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken: Isaiah 5:28 Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses' hooves shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind: Isaiah 5:29 Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. The nation in Isaiah 5 was judged by an enemy; an enemy with purpose, drive and motivation. An enemy who does not seek sleep, is not weary, and always ready for the attack. Their weapons are at their side and at they are ready to be used at a moment's notice. Page 14

15 Here is the interesting part. In the case of Israel it was Assyria. Today we know much of this land to be modern day Iraq. Do you know that today we are effected by one of Assyria's greatest invention? Do you know that it is the Assyrians who are given the credit for inventing terrorism? Assyrians were one of the most warlike people in history, lovers of the violence of the war and hunt. Amongst the people of the ancient Middle East, they were famous for their cruelty. At the peak of its power, Assyria stretched from Egypt to Persian Gulf. Their aggressiveness was partially attributed to their location: Assyria was in northern Mesopotamia, north of Babylon. As no natural bounders like shores or mountains were found there, they were vulnerable to attacks from any direction. This required the presence of a strong and mobile army. (3) Who in today's modern world maintains such a hate that they would not sleep, have high motivation and just waiting for the attack? I believe that the same enemies that were part of divine providence then, have risen again today. They are the very ancestors of the enemies of Israel, the worshipers of Baal / Moloch / Ashur. He is the war god, cruel with the enemies and merciful with his believers. What is interesting is that his symbol was that of a disk or ornament as identified by strong's H7720 sah-har-one' From the same as H5469; a round pendant for the neck: - ornament like the moon. H5469 Sahar sah'-har From an unused root meaning to be round; roundness: - round. Today these enemies still worship the same god, his name is Helel Ben Sahar, literally meaning crescent בן שׁחר לליה Star. moon / Morning This is the very same name we find in scripture, in fact in Isaiah. But in English we call him Lucifer. Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! Page 15

16 Who attacked and breached our hedge of protection? The ancestors of the enemies of Israel, the worshipers of the enemy named Helel Ben Sahar. We have the final words from the black box found at the wreckage of flight 93, the flight that did not hit its target. What were those final words? They were a declaration - a war cry. The words were " Allahu Akbar." Allahu Akbar (Arabic: هللا (ربكأ is a phrase, called Takbir in Arabic, meaning "God is greater" or "God is [the] greatest" (4) What is this god's symbol? The crescent moon / morning star. Due to the fact that we are a nation who have turned her back upon God, His divine hedge of protection has been breached by the very same enemies that attacked ancient Israel. The terrorist ancestors mentioned in Isaiah, the ones who invented terrorism the worshipers of the enemy of Jehovah God. Do you see it? But That is Not All 9-11 was a warning and I believe a major call to repentance. But what has our nation done? Instead of repenting, we have stood with our heels dug in. Instead of being humble, we have become proud. Instead of turning to Him, we have stood in defiance of Him. Out of 9-11 we have said that we will rebuild, become stronger, stand in defiance against the terrorists. But more than that, we stand in defiance against God Himself because we have rejected His warning. That warning was the breach in the hedge of protection. And something that people have also forgotten, the breach is still there. Page 16

17 What should we have done? The proper course should have been to humble ourselves, seek His face and sought out forgiveness. If we would have done that, God would have healed our land as promised in 2 Chronicles 7:14 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. But we haven't done that. Judgment isn't coming, it is already here. Most of the nation missed it or did not get the warning people died, one of our great cities was crippled, our nation wept and was brought to her knees for a season. But we have stood again in defiance against God and the enemies of God. Our pride has gotten the best of us. In reading Isaiah God used the same enemies to not only wreak havoc the first time, but when He pulled the hedge of protection completely; it exposed all of the nation of Israel to attacks, destruction, economic downfall and eventually bound and enslaved to the enemies who brought the destruction. I am not a prophet. I am a watchman, a student of bible prophecy as well as a student of history. Isaiah is one of the greatest prophetic books and historical books of the bible and I believe that what happened to Israel is coming to pass again here in America. Why? Because we are a nation founded upon God, His Word, dedicated and ordained to sharing the hope of His Son to all the world. We have stopped Occupying Till He Returns. We have forgotten to " always be ready to share the hope that is within us." (1 peter 3:15) Judgment is not coming, it is here and to be honest I fear what is to come in the next phase of His chastisement. What do I believe is coming? Page 17

18 That is another article based upon Isaiah in light of ancient Israel and America today. More to come Endnotes Page 18

19 Where is Magog, Mecheck & Tubal? By Joel Richardson I was not entirely surprised to see that one of my most recent articles, Does Psalm 83 Describe the New Middle-East War? has led to a quite a bit of controversy on a couple of prophecy-related blogs. It appears as though the gist of the disagreement revolves around two things: (1) A map I included in my article of the invading nations of Ezekiel 38 & 39 s oracle often referred to as the Battle of Gog of Magog, wherein I located Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer and Togarmah all in Asia Minor or modern day Turkey, and (2) my identification of the lands controlled by Assyria during the reign of King David, and the ministry of Asaph. It seems these two points have raised the ire of some fellow students of the Bible. Thus, very briefly, I d like to address these two issues. First, below is my map detailing the nations mentioned in Ezekiel 38 & 39 s oracle concerning the Battle of Gog of Magog: Now below is a partial collection of maps from various Bible Atlases, as well as other scholarly reference works from which I arrive at my conclusions. The Atlases which represent the most up-to-date scholarship are included first and the slightly older Atlases follow. Note that the author of the critical blog post mentioned above places Magog, Meshech and Tubal all in Russia or Georgia, all well outside and north of modern day Turkey. Page 19

20 IVP Atlas of Bible History The New Moody Atlas of the Bible The Holman Bible Atlas Page 20

21 Zondervan Atlas of the Bible Harper Collins Atlas of Bible History ESV Bible Atlas Page 21

22 Baker s Bible Atlas The Macmillan Bible Atlas IVP New Bible Atlas The Oxford Bible Atlas says of Meshech and Tubal that they are, regions in Asia Minor [Turkey]. Old Testament scholar Daniel I. Block, in the New International Commentary on Ezekiel, says, It seems best to interpret Magog as a contraction of an original māt Gūgi, land of Gog, and to see here a reference to the territory of Lydia in western Anatolia [Turkey]. Page 22

23 The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary states, Magog, possibly meaning the land of Gog, was no doubt in Asia Minor [Turkey] and may refer to Lydia. The IVP Bible Background Commentary lists Magog, Meshech, Tubal, and Togarmah as sections or peoples in Asia Minor [Turkey]. The New Unger s Bible Dictionary, under the entry for Magog, states, It is clear that Lydia [Turkey] is meant, and that by Magog, we must understand, the land of Gog. The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary places Magog in Anatolia, or modern-day Turkey. The Catholic Encyclopedia states, It seems more probable that... Magog should be identified with Lydia [Turkey]. On the other hand, as Mosoch and Thubal were nations belonging to Asia Minor, it would seem from the text of Ezechiel that Magog must be in that part of the world. Finally, others with Josephus identify Magog with Scythia, but in antiquity this name was used to designate vaguely any northern population. Hippolytus of Rome, one of the most important Christian theologians of the third century, in his Chronicon, connected Magog to the Galatians in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. Pliny the Elder a first-century Roman military commander, author, naturalist, and philosopher placed Magog on the border of Syria and modern day Turkey. Maimonides, also known as Rambam, the revered Jewish sage, in Hichot Terumot, also identified Magog as being on the border of modern day Turkey. Pastor author and well-known prophecy teacher Mark Hitchcock places Meshech and Tubal in modern day Turkey. Author Joel C. Rosenberg also places both Meshech and Tubal in modern day Turkey. Likewise Dr. Thomas Ice, executive director of the Pre-Trib Research Center says, Some Bible teachers in the past have taught that Meshech is a reference to Moscow and thus refers to Russia. This is the view of The Scofield Reference Bible, Harry Rimmer and Hal Lindsey The identification of Meshech with Moscow is merely based upon a similarity of sound. There is not real historical basis to support such a view, therefore, it must be rejected. Ice thus agrees with Hitchcock and places Meshech and Tubal in Turkey: The historical record, as was the case with Meshech, is that Tubal and his descendants immigrated to the area southeast of the Black Sea in what is modern day Turkey. Meshech and Tubal clearly provide the population base for the country we now call Turkey. Now, I am quite sure that despite the various references provided here, some who have long held to the notion that Magog represents Russia will just ignore all of the sources above and Page 23

24 simply cite other works and scholars who argue or who have argued that Gog / Magog point to Russian. Of course, this debate is not new. As far back as 1706, Matthew Henry, in his classic Bible commentary, acknowledged this precise difference of opinion among fellow scholars and believers: Some think they find them [Gog and Magog] afar off, in Scythia, Tartary, and Russia. Others think they find them nearer the land of Israel, in Syria, and Asia the Less [Turkey]. Of course, my purpose is not to attempt to settle the debate here in a brief blog post. In my forthcoming book Mideast Beast: The Scriptural Case For an Islamic Antichrist, I take great pains to thoroughly address the various arguments that surround these passages, bringing students of Scripture up to date with modern Biblical scholarship. Now to the issue of what lands the Assyrians occupied during the reign of King David, when Psalm 83 was written by Asaph. In the previously referenced blog post which took issue with my map of Assyria, the claim is made that Asaph ministered in 900 B.C. But this is simply not accurate. King David reigned from roughly B.C. to B.C. as any Bible commentary will verify. Asaph ministered during David s reign. Because I attempt to interpret Psalm 83 through the historical-grammatical method as is practiced by all conservative scholars, I identify the Assyria of Asaph s day, not the Assyria of 70 years later, etc. As such, the map I included in my article is accurate. The territory of Assyria during King David s reign included a large section of modern day Turkey. For a brief period around 900 B.C. the Assyrian territory shrunk back, but soon returned to the Mediterranean and only expanded westward from there. Any effort to exclude the nation of Turkey from the list of nations in Psalm 83 is simply not in accordance with the historical record. For those who seek to study the issue of Psalm 83 further, I would also recommend Mark Hitchcock s newest book, Middle East Burning as well as Dr. Thomas Ice s series of articles below. (Note: Not at all surprising is the fact that the blog post referenced above only challenges my critique of the popular Psalm 83-War theory, but is careful not to mention Ice or Hitchcock. Ice takes far greater umbrage with the theory than myself and has presented a much more thorough critique than myself as well. Yet it is unlikely that any complete response to Ice s papers below will be forthcoming.) (Note: It is also important to state that my critique of the popular, multiple-war, Psalm 83 theory is not directed personally toward author Bill Salus, who has been the primary instrument to popularize this theory. Bill is a gentleman, a good brother, and has always represented Christ well in all of my personal interactions with him, showing that brothers can disagree and still display a Christ-like spirit.) Dr. Ice: Consistent Biblical Futurism (Part 10) Page 24

25 Dr. Ice: Consistent Biblical Futurism (Part 11) Dr. Ice: Consistent Biblical Futurism (Part 12) Dr. Ice: Consistent Biblical Futurism (Part 13) My book will be available in April. As always, all I ask is that lovers of the Scriptures genuine Bereans simply take the time to consider the various arguments and arrive at their conclusions through their love for truth and the Scriptures, rather than based on what their particular team has traditionally taught. I am convinced that too many within the Body of Christ forget that we are all on the same team. With regard to the end times, we all see through a glass darkly and when all is said and done, we will all no doubt be wrong on some points, but Jesus promises to reveal the truth to those who humbly seek it. After the Messiah comes, then we will all agree on all things. For now, we are to be faithful men and women who watch and pray, as we together long for the revealing of our great King and Savior Jesus Christ: The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:7-8 Page 25

26 Kind Soothing Words versus Truth By Barbara Henderson avoid conflict. We have all heard so-called Christians say things like: We are all going to the same place anyway We are all praying to the same God God wouldn t send anyone to hell He/she is a good person And a host of other phrases that sound kind, good, unifying, and pleasing to the itching ear. Such words are spoken with the idea of just getting along. The speakers want to sooth and assure. They also want to These kind soothing words may make a momentary situation easier. Such words may make people feel good, or at least feel better; but the long term effects can be eternally damning. The truth is that all these words are lies. What people need is to hear the truth. Christians should ask themselves, If I were lost, wouldn t I want to hear the truth about actually getting into heaven? If that is the way we would want to be treated, shouldn t we treat other people that way? It is the duty of every Christian to be ready to tell people, The God of the Bible is unique. And the Bible tells us: If you are praying to any other god, you are NOT praying to the same God to whom followers of Jesus Christ pray. We are not all going to the same place. We are all going to one of two places. Followers of Jesus Christ are going to heaven. Those who don t follow Him are going to a place called hell. According to the Bible, those who reject Jesus Christ will not enter the kingdom of heaven. The Bible says we are saved by grace through faith, so just being a good person won t get anyone into heaven. We may wonder why it is that Christians are prone to let falsehoods regarding the way of salvation stand instead of at least attempting to correct them. Many Christians have shut themselves up in selfish indifference and unconcern. On a kinder note, perhaps they are just overwhelmed with the cares of the world. These Christians know the way of salvation. They know the eternal destination of those who reject Jesus Christ. But, they can t seem to just tell the truth that Jesus alone is the way to eternal life. Regardless of the reasons, they remain Page 26

27 unwilling or afraid to confront error in Bible theology in the culture in general and in friends specifically. One strong reason Christians are willing to speak sweet words of agreement like those already mentioned is Christians forget God s continual presence with them personally. While words like we all pray to the same God may sooth the ears of a visible friend or companion they hardly sooth the ears of God Almighty. Christians need to take very seriously the constant presence of God. If it must be that someone is made uncomfortable or his/her feelings are hurt by a Christian pointing out that to pray to the God of the Bible is not praying to a generic god, then it let it be a human companion. Don t let it be God. Christians should take God s companionship seriously all the time. It will keep them from sin. For instance, a Christian who is walking with their spouse will hardly venture into adultery at the same time. A Christian who is constantly aware of God s presence will be much more mindful of his conduct. As a Christian becomes more aware of God s continual presence, the more useful that Christian becomes to God. Here is another sad truth. Compromise in the name of getting along brings the things of the world into the church it brings in sin things unacceptable to God. Misguided and marginal Christians are prone to bring ungodly things into the church in the name of reaching out to the lost. So many things of the world are in some churches that the congregation might as well be attending a high school pep rally. People may come to church somewhat depressed and leave emotionally charged up, but they haven t really heard a lesson from the Bible. What are the consequences of Christians not confronting the culture? Are more people actually restored to fellowship with God by speaking kind soothing words, or are more people restored to fellowship with God Almighty by quoting John 14:6 which says, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Another very common sin that leads to mixing the things of the world in with the things of the church is impatience. It is the same sin that got Abraham and Sarah into all that trouble when they came up with the plan for Abraham to have a child with Sarah s maid. They knew God s promise, but they just didn t have the patience to wait on God to do what He had promised to do. A zealous Christian today can easily fall into the same trap. They honestly want to see souls reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. They go out and tell people about Jesus, but they don t get the desired results. Perhaps they don t get any results. So, instead of continuing to use the anvil of Bible truth, they begin to look for other ways to reach out to the people of the world. Church growth becomes the measure of their success instead of souls actually saved. Then, when church growth becomes the measure of success, anything and everything becomes acceptable as long as it increases the size of the church congregation. It is certainly possible to Page 27

28 have a church that is very large and preaches fundamental truths of the Bible. It is also possible to have a very small church that is so far away from Bible truths that it shouldn t even be called a church. The size of the congregation should be up to God. The church members need to stick to the same story that Paul stuck to in Acts when he got himself kicked out of two towns for preaching the gospel, and went straight on to preach the gospel in the third town. At the end of every day, a Christian can evaluate his/her day by this one thing. Did I do the best I could do to say and do the things pleasing to Christ today? When the answer is yes, then a well done is awarded for that day. The outcome of action is not in the hands of mankind. It is like a farmer fighting the nature and the weather. He can plant, fertilize, plow, irrigate, and stand ready to harvest when the crops are done. That is all he can do. He has no control over storms, fires, drought, floods, locusts, crop blights, late frosts, early frosts, or anything else. All he can do is what he can do. All we can do is to be like Paul and keep hammering away with the truth of God s word. The word of God is more effective than any program ever devised. Hebrews 4:12 says, For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Something else Christians should take into consideration is that an opportunity to speak to someone about Jesus Christ has to be brought about by God. Personally, I don t get out of the house much. I am not around a lot of people except at church or in the grocery store. I just don t meet that many people. I have a few people now that I know personally that I am praying for. I haven t been able to have a real discussion with them about the Bible. I have made a real effort to engage them in a conversation about their religious beliefs, but I haven t made any progress. I am ready to talk to them, but the opportunity to talk is going to have to be set up by God. We have no power to make people willing to listen. We do have the choice to keep praying and to be ready to speak the truth when an opportunity is given. I was able to give one dear person a gospel tract, and of course I pray that time will be made to read it. Acts 8:26-40 gives a wonderful example of God setting up an opportunity to lead someone to Him. You probably already know that story. An important man was reading scripture. God sent someone to him who explained the scripture, explained Jesus; the man was saved and baptized. Obviously, an opportunity isn t usually that dramatic, but it still must be set up by God. Probably the only way to tell if it is an opportunity is to make an effort to engage in conversation about Jesus. If they respond to your question or statement, then go from there. In even a sentence or two, you may plant a little seed of a question, and someone else may plant another, and someone else another. Who knows who will actually be the one to have the experience of being present when a person you witnessed too actually turns to Jesus? If you get a chance to say something appropriate regarding Bible truth at any given time, you have planted or watered a seed already planted by someone else. Remember 1 Corinthians 3:6 which tells us, I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. Page 28

29 A very interesting Bible passage is Luke 10:2 which says, Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. When we read or hear this passage we most often think of people out on the streets preaching or of missionaries away from their native land trying to preach the gospel in a language not their own. But, we can make it a lot more personal if we begin to think of the labor of prayer. Prayer is the beginning of success. What do you think would be the result if Christians doubled their time in prayer for the souls of the lost? Is God calling you to pray for the lost? Pray for the lost, and pray for God to call others to pray for the lost. Remember 1 Timothy 2 1. I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2. For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4. Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6. Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. And 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing. Ultimately there are no kinder or more soothing words than the truth of the Bible. Jesus saves. Page 29

30 Lost Eras, New Realities By Wilfred J. Hahn The globe has been transitioning into a major new era over the last decade or so. The signs are everywhere, particularly in the fields of economics and geopolitics. Some analysts see this as one realm political economics. We would further add that such shifts, whether political or otherwise, can hardly take place without an associated change in societal values (certainly so for democracies). Religions, ethics, and beliefs are involved, although very, very few analysts have been willing to tread this ground over the last century or so. The point we are making is that a new era (we would call it an epoch, except that we think it will be a relatively short transition period) has begun. Moreover, changes that ushered in its arrival have been rapid, especially over the last two to three years. Gone are the familiar characteristics of the post-world War II era that had been beloved by so many. Legions of economists had built mathematical forecasting models on the assumption that the underlying drivers of the five decades between 1950 and 2000 would remain the same forever. In reality, most never did actually seek to understand the theoretical underpinnings to the prosperity of this period. For them, simple rear-view gazing through quantitative measures of stock markets and economic trends (or virtually anything that was measurable) was sufficient to predict the future. Little appeal was made to causes; the only focus was on results. What became future fact was the past result itself. For instance, how many times would one have been told that the average gain of the Dow Jones Industrials stock market index has been X % for a given period in the past, with the implication that this should be expected to continue in the future? This is a ridiculous presumption yet countless analysts actually believed in this type of reading of the chicken entrails. We next list an assortment of factors that defined the prosperity of the World War II period; try to guess the commonality that applies to them all. 1. Rapid population growth which in turn drove the growth of the work force. 2. Higher workforce participation rate as more women entered the job market. 3. Debt growth faster than economic expansion. 4. Productivity growth, much of this driven by new efficiencies and also by off-shoring manufacturing. 5. Increasing financialization of human activity. 6. Globalization the growth of free markets and the increasing intensity of world trade. 7. Ample supply of cheap global labor. Page 30

31 8. Cheap energy and commodities. 9. Increasing capital efficiency, i.e. companies shrinking their working capital. 10. Corporatism and the attendant boom in corporately-funded lobbyism. 11. A boom in financial alchemy, creating the illusion of prosperity through a decoupling of financial markets for the underlying industrial economy. 12. The maximization of government deficit-spending stimulus. 13. A build-up in unsustainable external trade and current account deficits. All of these factors (and more) played a contributing role both real and illusory in the apparent prosperity and halcyon boom of the post-wwii period in the Western world. What is common to all of them? All have reached their limits or are slowing. This causal fountain is gone. The trends have changed and the past has become irrelevant to the future. We turn our focus back to the financial markets. Here, the global foundation that was put in place after WWII (i.e. stemming from the agreement at Bretton Woods, these leading to the foundation and definition of such transnational agencies as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Bank of International Settlements) has crumbled. The notion that debt could be a foundational asset for banking systems was based on the expectation that the sovereign debt of the developed nations (these, for the most part, being members of the rich country club of the Organization of Economic Development and Cooperation, O.E.C.D.) would be considered to be risk-free. That assumption was catastrophically debunked when Greece fell into crisis two years ago. While it has not yet officially defaulted in a technical sense, what else would explain why a Greek government bond which is supposed to be a risk-free asset has fallen over 60% in value? Now the same uncertainties have enveloped a number of other country bond markets, from Portugal to Italy. As we write, massive monetary changes are occurring around the world. In fact, we suspect that a new system is evolving right under our noses. Central banks in the Western world have been carrying out massive interventions, buying up the weakened collateral of banks and lending them capital in unprecedented amounts. As a result of these types of actions by the European Central Bank (ECB), the interbank funding market has already been effectively nationalized, or more accurately said, Europeanized. Why? This is because banks will no longer lend money to each other due to their low trust in the financial solvency of other banks. How things proceed from here will depend on the degree of desperation and further crisis in Europe s banking sector and sovereign bond markets. The reserves (this basically being the manufactured money that is held on deposit with the central monetary authority by commercial banks) of the top eight largest central banks in the world now amount to almost one-third of the value of global equity markets (or $13 trillion measured in U.S. dollars). That is three times the level of just five years ago. Would anyone believe that these large interventions will ever be reversed? Perish the thought; it will not happen. Page 31

32 Suffice it to say that one should expect anything and stay informed. The future will not be the same as the last half of the 20th century. The Bible warns of the mistakes that have befallen the zeitgeist of the post-wwii era. Jesus Christ illustrated the importance of causality when He said: Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.' You blind fools! (Matthew 23:16-17). They cared only for the gold, giving little recognition to why it was there in the first place. Similarly, by only looking to the golden results of a prosperous era, its foundations were not only ignored, but also debased. SUBSCRIBE TO WILFRED S FREE NEWSLETTER For resources on endtime economics and to subscribe to the free newsletter, Eternal Value Review, visit Wilfred s website or contact him at: staff@eternalvalue.com About the Author Wilfred J. Hahn is a global economist/strategist. Formerly a top-ranked global analyst, research director for a major Wall Street investment bank, and head of Canada s largest global investment operation, his writings focus on the endtime roles of money, economics and globalization. He has been quoted around the world and his writings reproduced in numerous other publications and languages. His 2002 book The Endtime Money Snare: How to live free accurately anticipated and prepared its readers for the Global Financial Crisis. His newest book, Global Financial Apocalypse Prophesied: Preserving true riches in an age of deception and trouble, looks further into the future. Page 32

33 The Difficult Part of Prayer By Fred DeRuvo The difficult part of prayer is in the not knowing. Anyone will tell you that. We know that we need to have faith. We know that we need to see through the darkness of not knowing, to faith believing that God will answer according to His will. We also know there is so much that we are unable to discern about prayer. The Bible tells us much and if not studied thoroughly, we could end up with the wrong impression about prayer. By taking verses out of context, it is easy to arrive to a conclusion that says God will heal sickness every time. We can erroneously believe that God wants to bless me materially in this life. There are many conclusions we can draw about prayer that are far from its reality. Questions arise concerning prayer that are difficult to answer. We look at the book of Job for instance, and we see a man Job who was righteous. Yet in spite of that, God allowed Job to be tested and tested severely by the enemy of our souls. We learn from Job s experience that Satan has tremendous power and that power is kept in check by God alone. In essence then, Satan can use whatever means is necessary to overcome a believer even temporarily, if allowed to do so by God. We learn from Daniel that persistence in prayer pays off. We know that he prayed for 21 days for an answer to prayer (cf. Daniel 9), yet on the first day he prayed, the angel Gabriel was sent to provide an answer to Daniel. Unfortunately, Gabriel was delayed in coming. Why the delay? We learn that a prince of Persia likely a powerful demonic entity kept this godly messenger at bay for three weeks. There are spiritual beings more powerful than some of God s own angels. All the while Daniel knew nothing of this supernatural battle that was taking place in the heavenly realms. He was unaware of how real it was and the need for Michael the Archangel to come and help the messenger so that he could carry the answer to Daniel. Had Gabriel not explained the reason for the delay, not only Daniel, but we would still be in the dark. So why did God allow Gabriel to be so accosted and kept at bay for three weeks, only finding his freedom to continue onto Daniel after Michael fought for his release? If we look at the truth of Daniel 9, we see the importance of that particular passage. In fact, it is the only passage in all of Scripture that deals with the 70 weeks and the details noted therein by Gabriel. Page 33

34 The 70 weeks are directly connected to the nation of Israel and are extremely important. It tells of the times of the Gentiles and how Jerusalem and the Holy Mount (Temple Mount) will be trodden under the feet of Gentile nations until the end of human-led history. Moreover, this period of time details the rise of the Antichrist and the final seven years of human history known as the Tribulation. It was because of Daniel s righteous prayers that he was heard and a reason given. With this knowledge, is it any wonder that the prince of Persia did not want Gabriel to arrive to Daniel with the answer to his prayers? Of course he would do his best to keep that answer from arriving even if it meant keeping Gabriel at bay for as long as possible. Once Michael arrived, the prince of Persia was overcome, allowing Gabriel to go on his way. I also think it is telling that Gabriel knew that upon his return to the throne, he would again be hammered by another prince (demonic entity) who would attempt to keep him from getting back to the throne. What this tells me is that not all angels are alike. Some are certainly far more powerful than others. Is this why Jesus tells us to be persistent in prayer (cf. Luke 18:1-8)? This seems to be the case. There is something about persistent, consistent prayer that rises to the throne. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the angels who carry our prayers to God s throne are often accosted along the way. But this brings us to another question. Can God not hear our prayers until the angel relays the message? Of course He can without doubt. However, there is a procedure that God has obviously put into place that captures our prayers and guides them to the throne of grace. So if it takes time for our prayers to get there physically, what is the purpose of that. There can only be one answer. Faith. It is to build up our faith in God and His ability to hear and respond to our prayers. It is tempting to think that Satan has more power than He does. It is tempting to think that our prayers are answered based on our ability to pray persistently. I don t believe this to be the case at all. God uses time to build up our faith just as He did with Daniel. There was no chance that Daniel s prayer had not been answered. It was merely a matter of time until the answer reached Daniel. In today s day and age, we do not have angels appearing to us with an answer from God s throne. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit who is always before God s throne since He is God as the Father is God and as the Son is God. If the Holy Spirit dwells within us, He not only knows the prayers of our heart, but helps us when we don t even know how to pray (cf. Romans 8:26; John 14:26; see also Galatians 4:6). Page 34

35 There are situations in our lives that require concerted prayer if for no other reason than to continue to remind us of areas in our life that God needs to have control of and of which we need to let go. There are times when we need to spend time in prayer simply praising Him for His answer to prayer, whether we know what that answer is or not. Praising God in all things (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:18) is probably the very best way that I know of to let God have control of circumstances. I ve given a few examples of this throughout this book, but there are others. Recently, I ve been praying that God would open doors that seem closed, yet it also seems as though He wants open. I m not sure what those doors are, but I feel certain that He wants them open. Is it a case of me simply being involved in wishful thinking that God wants something that He does not? Is it a case of spiritual entities fighting against God s will to keep His will from happening? I believe it is the latter, rather than the former. So if that is the case, then what can be better than praising Him for His will, even though it appears to be yet unfulfilled? When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night He was betrayed, He prayed for options. He presented His request to the Father, with the proviso that His and only His will would be done. Jesus had wants, but He never allowed those wants to supersede the Father's will in the matter. The fact that Jesus said Not mine, but thy will be done proves this beyond doubt. In essence, Jesus was able to let go of his wants, for the exclusivity of the Father s will. How can human beings do this? Through praise. When we give thanks for something we are not particularly happy about, we are in the process of letting the situation go. If we continue to hang onto our wants, it appears as though either God will not move, or He will move to perform His will and we will be unable to accept and receive it. In the situation that I noted regarding God wanting to open doors for me to walk through, it is my responsibility to praise Him for His will. It is in praising Him that I am able to let go and let God complete His will. If God wants me to be in a holding pattern per se, then what is that to me? If God is going to wait months or years before the things He has me praying about come to pass, what is that to me? It is clear then that the length of time before He moves is completely His to ordain. If I get frustrated in the meantime, continuing to think that because God has placed something on my heart, He must mean for it to happen very soon, then I am setting myself up for failure. God does not often tell us ahead of time of His timing. We may get a sense of His timing in general terms, but that may be all. As the time approaches, we may get a sense of things being narrowed down. Page 35

36 Suppose God has me waiting for three years before He opens doors? In the meantime, I m doing other things that He has me doing, so I believe I am still performing His will. If He is preparing me to move in another direction, rarely if ever, does God give us a one-day notice. More often than not, He gives us plenty of time to become acclimated to the perfection of His will. He knows our frame and that we came from dust. He knows our weaknesses and deficiencies. He brings us along gently, slowly, and consistently. Our job is to trust Him and once again, the best way to trust Him is through a continual attitude of praise and thanksgiving. If I spend my time instead of praying that He will open the doors He plans to open, I spend time praising Him for the perfection of His will and the timing of that will, then I am in His will because I am proving to Him that I am trusting Him. I learned years ago that the best way to prove to God that we are trusting Him is through praise. We may not feel it when we start to praise Him, but this sacrifice of praise will soon turn into a reality that we did not know could exist (cf. Psalm 50:14). It is a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving when we do not understand and even when we find it difficult to agree, but we praise Him anyway because we believe He knows best. This is exactly what Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane. He essentially thanked Him for the perfection of God the Father s will and accepted it. It was in the act of saying Father, not my will but thine be done that Jesus praised the Father for that will. Jesus knew that the Father s will was best, beyond reason. Though He shrank from the coming trials, pain, and separation from the Father that would befall Him, Jesus ultimately fully submitted Himself to the Father. There is no greater sacrifice. A sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving is something the Lord wants to see in all of His children. We do not know the path intimately until we get there. The problem though is that we often think we know better than God about the many situations in our lives. He wants us to forget about our lives, take up our cross, and follow Him on a daily basis. This tells me that He does not want me preoccupied with the things that concern my life, but to be occupied within the confines of His will. Satan loves to get our minds on ourselves. He wants us to spend time agonizing over this thing or that with respect to our lives. The problem is that doing this keeps us from spending our lives fully involved in God s will. So I believe that God wants to open doors. I can spend a good amount of time praying about it; that He would open those doors, or I can spend a good amount of time praising Him for the fact that He is going to open doors when He sees fit. So every time I am tempted to think about, dwell on, and even become frustrated about those doors that appear to be closed, I have two choices: I can pray hard that He will open them, or I can offer praise to Him for His will and His timing. By doing the former, I tend to hang onto it. With the latter, I tend to let it go for His safe keeping. Page 36

37 I think what I am describing is what someone has called the faith-rest life of a Christian. By offering praise in all things, I am letting go of my wants. I am exercising faith in His ability to get His will accomplished. I am also resting in the fact that doors will open when they are supposed to open. Do you see that? This is the mark of a mature Christian and I m certainly not saying I m there yet, or there consistently. I m saying that is the mark to which we strive to reach. I believe this is the mark that Jesus aimed for and reached in the Garden of Gethsemane. Had he continued to ask God to remove the cup from Him, without adding the proviso about the Father s will being done, it would have amounted to sin. Jesus would have been guilty of putting His will ahead of the Father s will. This is sinful. It stems from our own ego, thinking that we know better than God does. Of course, Jesus passed the test with flying colors. Though He wanted to shrink from what was to come His way, He submitted Himself perfectly to the Father s will and He knew exactly what that meant in His case. As Christians, the best of our prayers can be found in praising Him for His will even when our wants to not coincide with that will. I believe there will always be an element of the unknown when it comes to prayer in this life. Paul said we see through a glass darkly (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:12). This is how it is, which is why faith is so important. The best evidence of our faith is in praising Him for those things that we cannot see. Page 37

38 2012--Is the World on the Prophetic Brink? By Bill Wilson Turkey is showing its radical Islamic roots by saying that it would prevent NATO from sharing important military information with Israel. Iran announced it has stopped oil sales to Britain and France. Saudi Arabia said publicly that it would do its best to make up the difference. Reports, however, to the Joint Organizations Data Initiative, the official source for oil production, indicate that Saudi Arabia actually cut oil production in December. Russia is still arming Syria. And Iran's warships have docked in Syria. By all indicators, the stage is set for an Islamic inspired war, fueled by Russia, targeted at Israel, and catalyzed by White House support of Islamic democracy in the Middle East. Are we on the prophetic brink? All signs point to a type and shadow of what is referred to by many Biblical prophets as "The Day of YHVH (the LORD)." Whether this day is a literal day or an extended day, scholars are not sure. But most agree that this is the time when Yeshua Ha Mashiach (Jesus the Messiah) returns to reclaim the world and judge the enemies of YHVH (God). The nations in current headlines are consistently mentioned--turkey (Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Gomar, Togarmah), Iran (Persia), Iraq, parts of Eastern Turkey (Assyria), Libya (Libya and Northern Africa), Syria, and others. Ezekiel 38:16 says, "And Thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days..." Another prophecy is directly aimed at Damascus, Syria. Isaiah 17:1 says, "Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap." Some believe, such as Bible Scholar Joel Richardson, that Mecca/Saudi Arabia, is the Great Mystery Babylon characterized in Revelation 17--as it is in a wilderness (the desert), is drunk on the blood of the saints (Islam kills Christians worldwide), the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her and have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication (every current leader of a major nation has bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia, and the world is addicted to her oil). In the context of current events, this interpretation appears likely. Is the world, therefore, on the prophetic brink? It is very close, however, there are many events that must happen before the Messiah returns on that fateful day. The rise of the antichrist, a peace treaty with Israel, wars and rumors of wars, insurmountable inflation, pestilences and famines. Things are going to get much worse. Yeshua (Jesus) said in Matthew 24:33, "...when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." There will be death, malaise and destruction as people are caught in the crossfire of these events prior to the return of the Messiah. People can rage against this all they want, but in the end, the eternal position of every human soul hangs in the balance. Where is yours? Page 38